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IlIBRARY OF CONGRESS.! 



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.ij4:l. 



* i 

t UNITBD STATES OP AMBEICA. i 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 

if -New-York Historical Society, 

AT THE CELEBRATION OF ITS 

SIXTY-NINTH ANNIVERSAR Y, 
Tuesday, January 6, 1S74. 

BY 

FREDERIC DE PEYSTER, LL.D., 

president of the society. 




NEW-YORK: 
PUBLISHED FOR THE SOCIETY. 



mdccclxxiv. 



THE LiaRARYl 
or C0NGRIc.;5s' 

WAIHIMOTOKJ 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 

New-York Historical Society, 

AT THE CELEBRATION OF ITS 

SIXTY-NINTH ANNIVERSAR Y, 
Tuesday, January 6, 1874. 



FREDERIC DE PEYSTER, LL.D 

PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY. 




N£W-YORK; 
PUBLISHED FOR THE SOCIETY. 

MDCCCLXXIV. 





At the annual meeting of the New- York Historical Society, held 
in its Hall, on Tuesday evening, January 6th, 1874, 

Frederic de Peyster, Esq., LL.D., delivered the Sixty-ninth 
Anniversary Discourse — Subject : " William III. as a Reformer." 

On its conclusion, Mr. James W. Beekman, after some remarks, 
submitted the following resolution : 

Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be presented to the 
President of the Society, Frederic de Peyster, Esq., LL.D., for 
his learned and able address delivered before the Society this even- 
ing, and that a copy be requested for publication. 

The resolution was seconded by the Rev, Dr. Osgood, with re- 
marks, and was adopted unanimously. 

Extract from the Minutes, 

ANDREW WARNER, 

Recording Secretary. 



OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY, 1874. 



PRESIDENT, 

FREDERIC DE PEYSTER, LL.D, 



FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT, 

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, LL.D, 



SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT, 

JAMES W. BEEKMAN. 



FOREIGN CORRESPONDING SECRETARY, 

WILLIAM J HOPPIN. 



DOMESTIC CORRESPONDING SECRETARY, 

EVERT A. DUYCKINCK. 



RECORDING SECRETARY, 

ANDREW WARNER. 



TREASURER, 

BENJAMIN H. FIELD, 



LIBRARIAN, 

GEORGE HENRY MOORE, LL.D, 



EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 



FIRST CLASS — FOR ONE YEAR ENDING 1875. 

JOHN TAYLOR JOHNSTON, ERASTUS C. BENEDICT, LLU. 
ROBERT LENOX KENNEDY. 



SECOND CLASS— FOR TWO YEARS ENDING 1 876. 

JOSEPH B. VARNUM, EVERT A. DUYCKINCK, 

JAMES WILLIAM BEEKMAN. 

THIRD CLASS — FOR THREE YEARS ENDING 1877. 

SAMUEL OSGOOD, D.D., WILLIAM R. MARTIN, 

CHARLES P. KIRKLAND, LL.D. 



FOURTH CLASS — FOR FOUR YEARS ENDING 1878. 

EDWARD F. DE LANCEY, HENRY DRISLER, LL.D., 

JAMES H. TITUS. 

CHARLES P. KIRKLAND., LL.D., Chairman. 
GEORGE H. MOORE, LL.D., Secretary. 

[The President, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, and Librarian are members, 
ex-officio., of the Executive Committee.] 



COMMITTEE ON THE FINE ARTS. 

JONATHAN STURGES, WILLIAM J. HOPPIN, 

A. B. DURAND, JOHN A. WEEKS, 

ANDREW WARNER, EDWARD SATTERLEE. 

JONATHAN STURGES, Chairman. 
ANDREW ^NK&^Y.^,- Secretary. 

[The President, Librarian, and Chairman of the Executive Comm.ittee are 
members, ex-officio, of the Committee on the Fine Arts.] 



i 




William the Third 



AS A REFORMER. 




|HE century which witnessed the hfe of 
WilHam III. is one of the most remark- 
able in history, and furnished a splendid 
theatre for his extraordinary career. The impulse 
which had been given to the world, by the re- 
vival of letters and the Protestant Reformation, 
had been communicated to all classes in society ; 
and the result was to be seen in a universal and 
unparalleled activity in every department of life. 
The seventeenth century was, perhaps more than 
any other, a transition period. It is characterized 
more than any preceding epoch by what is known 
distinctively as modern thought. It witnessed, more 
than any preceding epoch, the shaping of political 




lo William the Third 

institutions into the forms in which they now present 
themselves. The old was everywhere passing into 
the new. 

At the very threshold of the century we find our- 
selves in the presence of that great work which 
has exercised such a powerful influence upon the 
English-speaking people — the authorized version of 
the Holy Scriptures. Besides the moral and spirit- 
ual benefits which this wonderful translation of the 
Bible has conferred upon the world, no other agency 
has so largely contributed to the preservation of the 
English language at the point of purity and strength 
which it had at that time attained. It was early in 
this century also that the Baconian system of Philo- 
sophy entered, as one of its most powerful factors, 
into our modern life. A little earlier, the first Eng- 
lish colony was established on this continent, and the 
stupendous development of Anglo-Saxon civilization, 
on this side of the Atlantic, commenced. On the 
other side of the globe the East- India Company 
commenced its career, fraught with such momentous 
consequences to the teeming millions of Hindostan, 
and laying the foundations of that mighty dominion 
which has given to the Queen of England the title 
of " Empress of the Indies." 

The early years of the century witnessed the 
career of Gustavus Adolphus, and the triumphs for 
Protestantism which he achieved. The middle 



as a Reformer. ii 

period of the century witnessed the Great Rebellion, 
and the ascendency of Oliver Cromwell. Just as the 
first half of the century was passing away, the " Peace 
of Westphalia " was signed at Munster, and the prin- 
ciple of the balance of power in Europe established. 
It was at this period, in the year 1650, that William, 
Prince of Orange, was born. 

A period so remarkable for great movements and 
events must necessarily have had its great men also. 
The seventeenth century presents an array, seldom 
equalled in history, of men eminent in art, poetry, 
philosophy, theology, and government. 

In Holland, we meet with the names of Grotius, 
Huygens, Leuwenhoeck, and, greater than all, the 
name of Benedict Spinoza. In Spain, all other names 
fade into insignificance before the genius of Calderon 
de la Barca. In Germany, it is enough that we find 
the name of Kepler, second only to Isaac Newton in 
the grandeur of his discoveries ; superior perhaps to 
Newton in his fine, penetrating insight into the mys- 
teries of nature. 

In France, we have a brilliant array in the names 
of Corneille, Rochefoucault, Moliere, Madame de Se- 
vigne, Racine, Tillemont, Descartes, Malebranche, 
Bourdaloue, and Pascal, In Italy, we have Salvator 
Rosa, Bentiyoglio, Torricelli, Filicaja, Sforza Pallavi- 
cino, Rainaldi, and Magliabecchi. But it was in Eng- 
land that the period seemed to be most fruitful in great 



12 William the Third 

men in every department of intellectual activity. 
There were Ford, Ben Jonson, Massinger, Cow- 
ley, and John Milton. In another department of 
literature we meet the names of Camden, Raleigh, 
Cotton, Purchas, Thomas Fuller, Clarendon, Izaak 
Walton, and John Bunyan, In still another we find 
Francis Bacon, Usher, Hobbes, Chillingworth, Bar- 
row, Pearson, Jeremy Taylor, Algernon Sydney, 
Ralph Cudworth, Tillotson, Leighton, Baxter, and 
Boyle. Scarcely any other period of years in the 
history of the world, especially in England, will be 
found so prolific in men distinguished in every walk 
of life, and exercising so powerful and permanent an 
influence upon the progress of mankind. It was in 
the midst of this century, and surrounded by this bril- 
liant constellation, that William, Prince of Orange, 
came upon the public stage. 

As our purpose is to speak of William as a Reform- 
er, and to consider especially his relation to modern 
thought and progress, it is not necessary to dwell 
upon the circumstances of his early life, nor to sketch 
his strange and eventful career as the )-outhful gene- 
ral and Stadtholder of his native land. 

But in order rightly to estimate his place in his- 
tory, it will be well to trace his ancestry, and observe 
the links which bound him to all the great moving 
influences of his time. He was the son of William 
II. of Orange, and his mother was the Princess 



as a Reformer. 13 

Mary of England, the daughter of Charles I. His 
grandfather was the Stadtholder Frederic Henry, 
a brother of the great Maurice of Nassau, His 
great-grandfather was William the Silent, and his 
great-grandmother, the wife of William the Silent, 
was the daughter of Admiral Coligny. This is 
indeed a noble and wonderful lineage ; and in it 
are to be found subtle and mysterious influences 
which prepared William for the great part which he 
was to play in establishing the Reformation upon a 
lasting basis, and reconciling, in some degree at 
least, the principles and prejudices of the Stuart 
party in England to modern ideas and progress. 

If we would bring before our minds the aspect of 
the great prince to whom the destinies of England 
were committed at the most critical period perhaps 
in its history, we must imagine a man less than forty 
years of age, but already old. Worn with innumera- 
ble cares and wasted with disease, his attenuated 
body seemed scarcely able to sustain the burden of 
life ; but his iron and invincible will forced it to the 
performance of the most Herculean labors. 

William had already accomplished a vast work in 
the line of the great mission which he considered as 
especially imposed upon him. He regarded the 
rapidly rising power of France, under Louis XIV., as 
the great danger to Protestantism and freedom in 
Europe. This power, while yet no more than the 



1 4 William the Third 

Stadtholder of Holland, he had been able to hold at 
bay; and he had already given indications of con- 
summate statesmanship in the coalition against 
France which he had already formed, when he, as 
William the Third, was called to the throne of 
England. 

No statesman ever had a more difficult task to 
accomplish in the way of harmonizing- conflicting 
interests, and introducing needed reforms, than that 
which devolved upon William when he became King 
of England. 

In order to understand this, it is necessary to con- 
sider the peculiar influences of the times in which he 
lived, and the special circumstances by which he Avas 
surrounded. His career was passed at the centre of 
the most potent forces of the world, at the verj- 
beginning of what is understood by the expressions 
"Modern Thought " and " Modern Society." The 
old feudal system, with all its manifold relations to 
life, was passing away, and the process had com- 
menced, so significant in the history of the world, af 
the substitution of the relations of contract in its 
place. 

The impulse which had been given to thought, 
and which had its principal expression in the great 
Reformation, now began to reveal its presence in 
the most widely separated departments of life. 
Throughout all Europe there was the stirring of a 



as a Reformer, 15 

new intellectual power applied to every sphere of 
human interest. 

In estimating the place and influence of William 
III. in history, we must remember that the time in 
which he lived was very early, perhaps altogether 
too early, to rightly estimate the meaning and the 
direction of the great movements which were going 
on. If William saw that there was an irresistible 
tendency, revealing itself even in his time, towards 
a democratic condition of society, in which the vast 
masses of the people were to be lifted up to a position 
of higher social and political privileges ; if he laid 
hold at that time of some of the great principles of 
civil and religious freedom, it is certainly something 
remarkable in the circumstances in which he was 
placed. And if he wisely adapted means to ends, 
and set the nation, over which he was called so 
mysteriously to reign, in the path of modern pro- 
gress and development, his place among the great 
statesmen of the world will have been established. 
A critical examination of his history will show that 
he was all this, and more. 

The antagonism involved in this transition from 
the Old society to the New had nowhere a more 
intense development than in England. Intelligence, 
and at least a rudimentary education, were much 
more widely diffused in England than on the Conti- 
nent. Besides this, the Reformation had interwoven 



1 6 William the Third 

itself with English life, and had imparted a mighty 
impulse to English development. 

Still more, the principles of personal freedom and 
responsibility seemed to inhere in the race which 
had become paramount in England. It was the 
Indo-European family in its Germanic, or more dis- 
tinctly its Saxon, form. Its relationship was most 
intimate with the race-developments and languages 
of Holland and Germany. Indeed, it had received, 
centuries before, from Holland some of the most 
potent forces of its history. 

Through its whole history there had been a more 
or less distinct and conscious struggling after justice 
and freedom. The Magna Charta and the Common 
Law of England, the adjustment of the rival claims 
of Church and State, and the vindication of the right 
of England to order its own affairs and proceed in 
the line of its own development, without the dictation 
of any foreign ecclesiastical power, were the signifi- 
cant marks by which the progress of this struggle 
was indicated. If we examine the condition of Eng- 
lish society in the reign of James II., which was the 
condition upon which William III.'s influence was to 
be specially exercised, we shall find a complication of 
antagonistic influences scarcely paralleled in the his- 
tory of the world. We have a sovereign belonging 
to a reactionary family, and possessing every retro- 
grade tendency of that family; devoted to the theory 



as a /Reformer. 17 

of the absolute mastership of the king ; a bigot 
throughout every fibre of his being ; hostile to the 
prevailing tendencies to civil and religious freedom, 
and determined to restore, as far as possible, the 
condition of things before the Reformation. 

Many among the nobility agreed with him ; but 
many also were irrevocably opposed to the purposes 
which he cherished. The common people were 
overwhelmingly Protestant, and upon them and their 
steadfastness the hope of the nation was placed. 
The representatives of the National Church could 
be depended upon, as a whole, to resist the introduc- 
tion of Romish influences into the realm. Some of 
the Bishops, as we shall presently see, took a noble 
stand in this respect. The clergy also stood firm. 
But the problem was rendered more complicated 
and difficult by 'the fact that the Dissenting body 
were as jealous of the Established Church as the 
adherents of the Established Church were of the 
Romanists. It must have seemed well-nigh im- 
possible to reconcile such conflicting interests as 
these. 

This was the task, however, which William III. 
was compelled to undertake, and to do it, too, in 
spite of the additional difficulty that his right to 
govern at all was regarded by many as highly ques- 
tionable, if not absolutely without foundation. 

It is exceedingly interesting to notice the wisdom 



1 8 William the Third 

with which WilHam laid the foundations of his future 
influence and power, when negotiations were opened 
Avith him in regard to the throne of England. 
Although himself the grandson of Charles I., it was 
chiefly because his wife was the daughter of James 
II. that he was called to the rescue of Protestantism 
and constitutional liberty in England. It was clear 
that Mary must be Queen, whatever the position that 
he might occupy. Had his wife been other than she 
was, this might have proved a great embarrassment ; 
for William was determined to be king, in the fullest 
sense of the term, if he accepted at all the overtures 
of the English people. But Mary was one of the 
truest and most devoted of wives, and had no ambi- 
tion, and knew no purpose in life, but to promote the 
great objects which he had in view. In addition, 
however, to the sweetness of disposition and amia- 
bility which were such prominent characteristics of 
her nature, she possessed great good sense and 
remarkable tact, even in circumstances requiring the 
utmost shrewdness and self-possession. With such 
qualities as these there was little difficulty in bring- 
ing about the only arrangement to which William 
would consent, that of joint occupancy of the throne. 
With a wife so devoted to his interests, this was to 
be practically sole sovereign of England. 

Not long after his accession, and when he had 
established himself in some degree of security upon 



as a Reformer. 19 

the throne, he devoted himself to the cause of 
ecclesiastical reform. A Presbyterian by birth and 
education, he exhibited extraordinary breadth and 
toleration when he found himself at the head of the 
English Church. He endeavored to secure not only 
toleration, but valuable civil rights for the Roman 
Catholics, at a time when England had become 
intensely Protestant, and when scarcely a privilege 
could be accorded to them which they were not sure 
to abuse. He probably would have preferred a 
moderate Episcopacy in Scotland, but he wisely fell' 
in with the prevailing preference of the people, and 
laid the foundations of the present ecclesiastical sys- 
tem of the northern kingdom. He was chiefly inter- 
ested, however, in the relation of the Non-Conform- 
ists to the Established Church. He issued a royal 
Commission, constituting ecclesiastical commission- 
ers, whose special duty it was to propose a revision 
of the Book of Common Prayer. This was a part of 
the general scheme of William for ecclesiastical 
reform. It had been a cherished purpose with him 
to bring the Non-Conformists back into the Church ; 
but in order to accomplish this it seemed necessary 
that certain modifications should be made in the 
Liturgy. 

The Commission thus appointed consisted of ten 
Bishops and twenty other divines. Among the 
Bishops is to be found the name of the Arch- 



20 William the Third 

bishop of York ; the poHtical position of Bancroft, 
the Archbishop of Canterbury, rendering his ap- 
pointment impossible. Of the other clergy six 
were Deans, four were Professors and Doctors of 
Universities, four were Archdeacons, and six were 
of the London clergy. The members of this Com- 
mission were among the most distinguished men of 
the land. This will be recognized at once when we 
mention the names of Stillingfleet, Burnet, Patrick,, 
Tillotson, Hall, and Tenison. 

Few men have attained so wide a fame by writ- 
ings, at so early a period of life, as Stillingfleet, 
whose liberal opinions made him a most important 
coadjutor of the king, and one of the most advanced 
men of his age. Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salis- 
bury, the first bishop appointed by WilHam, was one 
of the most prominent men of his time. Few men 
have been so greatly liked, and so bitterly hated. 
The frankness with which he avowed his opinions 
gained him many friends, while the latitudinarian 
character of his opinions made him many enemies. 
The fact that these strong personal feelings in re- 
gard to him have been perpetuated from generation 
to generation, is evidence of the profound impres- 
sion which he has made upon the history of Eng- 
land, 

Patrick was a man of great learning, and a labori- 
ous commentator on the Scriptures. His special 



as a Reformer. 21 

duty in the Commission was the expanding- and 
ornamenting of the Collects, which were thought to 
be too short and dry. As a specimen of Patrick's 
work in the similar undertaking of expanding and 
ornamenting the version of the Canticles, Lord 
Macaulay gives the following paraphrase upon the 
beautiful verse: "I charge you, O daughters of 
Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him I 
am sick of love." Patrick's version is as follows : 
" Lo, I turned myself to those of my neighbors and 
familiar acquaintance, who were awakened by my 
cries to come and see what the matter was, and con- 
jured them, as they would answer it to God, that if 
they met with my beloved, they would let him know, 
—What shall I say? What shall I desire you to 
tell him, but that I do not enjoy myself now that I 
want his company, nor can be well till I recover his 
love again?" Upon this Lord Macaulay remarks, 
that " the choice of Patrick for the work of expand- 
ing and ornamenting the Collects seems to have 
been in one respect unexceptionable, for if we may 
judge by the way in which he paraphrased the most 
sublime Hebrew poetry, we shall probably be of the 
opinion that whether he was or was not qualified 
to make the Collects better, no man that ever lived 
was more competent to make them longer." 

No divine in that period enjoyed a greater repu- 
tation as a sermonizer than Archbishop Tillotson. 



2 2 William the Third 

Posterity has not confirmed this estimate. Perhaps 
the view of the present time is as mistaken as that 
of Tillotson's contemporaries. There are certainly 
wonderful smoothness and clearness in Tillotson's 
style ; and his sermons are thoughtful and instructive 
without being specially profound. 

Of the remarkable character and ability of these 
and other men upon this Commission there can be 
no doubt. They seem to have addressed themselves 
to their work with earnestness and industry. They 
continued for about six weeks, holding eighteen ses- 
sions, besides having numerous sessions of sub-com- 
mittees. 

The work of revision proceeded to the end of the 
Commination Service. Circumstances here inter- 
rupted the further prosecution of the work. No 
report was made to Convocation ; and the results to 
which the Commissioners had arrived were not suf- 
fered to become public. It was not until the year 
1854 that the Revision of these Royal Commis- 
sioners was given to the world. On the 14th of 
March of that year a motion was made in the House 
of Commons, by Mr. Heywood, in consequence of 
which an Address was voted for a copy of the altera- 
tions in the Book of Common Prayer prepared 
by the Royal Commissioners for a revision of the 
Liturgy in 1689. The only copy in existence was 
in the Archiepiscopal Library at Lambeth. It is 



as a Reformer. 23 

now published as one of the Blue-Books of the 
House of Commons. 

It is well, probably, that this effort was arrested 
by the non-juring schism. Noble as the idea of the 
comprehension of the Non- Conformists was, it was 
probably too late for its realization ; and any changes 
in the Services of the Church would have been likely 
to strengthen the non-jurors, who would then have 
seemed to be the true representatives of the old 
National Church, 

But while this effort failed, in the special form in 
which it was undertaken, the whole influence ot 
William, in the propositions which he made and the 
legislation which he suggested, was given to that 
moderation and breadth which have ever since, for 
the most part, characterized what may be called the 
civil administrat'on of the Church of England, A 
profound impression seems to have been made at 
that time in regard to the comprehensiveness of the 
National Church, and the necessary duty of tolera- 
tion of widely different schools of opinion. Since 
that time there has not been a single Primate of all 
England who has not held and administered his 
high office in that spirit. The judgments of the 
highest ecclesiastical courts have been in accord- 
ance with the same great idea, and have been remark- 
able for the breadth and generosity of principles by 
which they were governed. For this the English 



24 William the Third 

nation is deeply indebted to the Christian wisdom 
and controlhng influence of William, Prince of 
Orange. 

It is well, perhaps, at this point, that we should 
bring before ourselves the formidable difficulties by 
which William was surrounded in every movement 
which he made for reform. As a foreigner he was 
disliked in England. His reserved manner and taci- 
turn disposition, which belonged to him by inherit- 
ance, and were absolutely necessary to him in the 
position in which he was placed, alienated from him 
many who would otherwise have been his friends 
and supporters. He was surrounded by conspirators 
and assassins. There was not a single moment of 
his reign when his right to the throne Avas not con- 
tested and denied. He was obliged to wage wars 
in Scotland, in Ireland, and on the Continent. The 
poor, feeble, wasted frame of the king was doomed 
to the most painful efforts and sacrifices for a nation 
not his own, but whose destiny Providence had so 
mysteriously confided to his hands. 

The most trying thing of all was, that Parliament 
seemed incapable of entering into the grandeur of his 
designs and the noble disinterestedness of his pur- 
poses. There is nothing more pathetic in the whole 
history of the English nation than the almost broken- 
hearted utterances of \\'illiam, when he begged of the 
Commons to provide him with an army adequate to 



as a Reformer. 25 

maintain the pre-eminence of England in Continental 
affairs, or else permit him to abdicate in favor of the 
Princess of Denmark. 

All these difficulties are to be taken into the account 
when we consider the relation of William to the 
great reforms which have been owing, more or less, 
to the influence which he exerted. An illustration 
of the extreme difficulties by which he was embar- 
rassed — difficulties proceeding even from those who 
were themselves earnesdy desirous of reform — is to 
be found in the necessity frequently imposed upon 
him of resorting to the veto power, which has been 
exercised only once in the almost two centuries since 
his death. 

The first time that William was compelled to exer- 
cise this prerogative is an instance in point. The 
Bill of Rights had deprived the crown of the power 
of arbitrarily removing the judges, but it had not 
made them entirely independent. They were to 
be remunerated partly by fees and partly by sala- 
ries. The king could not control the fees, but the 
salaries were under his power. He could increase 
or reduce them at will. This was evidently not as 
it should be. A bill was brought in to rectify the 
matter by making the remuneration a thousand 
pounds ; but this was unfortunately made a charge 
upon the hereditary revenue. It was impossible for 
William to protect the rights of the crown, which 



26 William the Third 

were equally important as any other rights, without 
exercising the prerogative of vetoing the bill. We 
have here a most instructive illustration of the diffi- 
culties under which William inevitably labored. 

It may sound paradoxical, but it is doubtless true, 
that one of the great benefits conferred by William 
upon England was the originating of the national 
debt. Lord Macaulay has given a brilliant account 
of the growth of this debt, and the astonishment 
and dismay of the country at each stage of its pro- 
gress. He has shown, also, how marvellously the 
nation prospered, and has demonstrated its abili- 
ty to bear the present burden of its enormously 
increased debt with greater ease than it bore the 
comparatively trifling indebtedness of the early part 
of the eighteenth century. The mistake has been 
made of supposing that there is a strict analogy 
between the debt of one individual to another and 
the debt of a government to its own subjects. 

William was wise enough to understand that his 
government could have no more effectual guarantee 
of its permanence than the fact that it was indebted 
to the great majority of his subjects — a debt the 
interest of which it was perfectly able to pay so 
long as it continued in power, but both the interest 
and principal of which were sure to be lost if it 
were overthrown. The effect of the national debt 
from that time to this has been to furnish a means 



as a Refoi'iner. 27 

of safe investment for the earnings of the people, 
and to interest them, in the most practical way, in 
the maintenance of the existing order of things. 

It had been a very glaring defect in the working 
of the political system in England, that the House 
of Commons did not truly represent its constituency. 
This had been flagrantly the case during the pro- 
tracted Parliament in the time of Charles II. 

The duration of Parliament was dependent upon 
the royal prerogative. William jealously guarded 
his prerogative in this respect by refusing his as- 
sent to what was called the Triennial Bill, which 
limited the duration of Parliament to three years. 
But no sovereign of England ever studied more 
attentively the indications of public sentiment, or 
labored more assiduously to mould legislation in 
accordance with that sentiment. 

It was in the reign of William that the peculiar 
institution known as the Ministry originated. Dur- 
ing the early years of his reign he had acted 
upon a generous and apparently wise purpose, to 
permit the different political parties in England to 
be represented in his councils ; but later he adopted 
a different method, and established the present ad- 
mirable administration. A Ministry now is selected 
from one of the great dominant parties. It assumes 
the responsibility of government. So long as it can 
command the confidence of the representatives of 



2 8 William the Third 

the people it remains in power. When confi- 
dence in the wisdom of its measures is lost, an 
appeal is made to the people in a new election of the 
House of Commons ; or a new Ministry, represent- 
ing the Opposition, is at once appointed. It is im- 
possible, therefore, for the executive and legislative 
departments of the government to be in antago- 
nism ; and while there are salutary checks upon 
public sentiment, the sober, final judgment of the 
people must prevail. For this provision, so won- 
derfully adjusted to the whole machinery of govern- 
ment, England is indebted to the wise forecast and 
sagacious statesmanship of William III. 

The great bulwark of the liberties of the people, 
in modern times, is the emancipation of the press 
from the control or censorship of Government. 
The right of freely criticising the measures of 
Government, and of advocating whatever may be 
thought desirable for the public good, is the inalien- 
able prerogative of every citizen. It was during 
the reign of William that this freedom of the press 
was for the first time secured. 

The policy of William in reference to Ireland 
demands a moment's consideration. No difficulties 
which the British Government has encountered have 
been more complicated and vexatious than those 
which have arisen from the relations of England with 
Ireland. Differences of race and differences of reli- 



as a Reformer. 29 

gion originally embittered the feelings of the inhabit- 
ants of one island against the inhabitants of the 
other. Interests diametrically opposed have in- 
tensified the dislike, and even hatred, which have 
been engendered by the fierce conflicts which re- 
sulted in the subjugation of Ireland. 

A long series of mistaken legislation, to use no 
stronger term, has tended to widen the chasm 
between the conquered and the conquering race. It 
is only within the last few years, and especially 
under the administration of Mr, Gladstone, that the 
purpose has been entertained of governing Ireland 
upon principles of equality and justice. The princi- 
pal form which this new legislation has taken is the 
removal of disabilities under which the Irish Roman 
Catholics have suffered in consequence of their 
religion. The disestablishment of the Irish Church 
has been the one great step in this process, and the 
subject of University education in Ireland has been 
met by the Government in the largest and freest 
spirit ; but no practical result has yet been reached, 
owing to obstacles interposed by the Irish them- 
selves. 

The spirit of this legislation was cherished by 
William, and he would have given it practical expres- 
sion, but the religious animosities of the times ren- 
dered it impossible. The great Defender of Protest- 
antism in Europe, he extended the privilege of free 



30 William the Third 

worship to the Romanists in the provinces ceded by 
France in the treaty of Ryswick. And although 
compelled to wage war upon Irish soil, for the main- 
tenance of his throne, he was ready to relieve his 
conquered subjects from all disabilities on account of 
their faith. It was impossible, however, to carry this 
purpose into effect. The vehement remonstrance 
which came from the Protestants of Ireland and 
England, at every suggested concession to the 
Romanists, interposed such obstacles that William 
was obliged to content himself with such temporary 
expedients as he might be able to adopt, and leave 
the noble work of justice to Ireland for a more fortu- 
nate age. 

The chief triumph, however, of William's states- 
manship, and that which he regarded as his great 
mission, and to which his whole public life was 
devoted, was the coalition against France. At that 
time France was the most dangerous foe in Europe 
to civil and religious freedom. Under the splendid 
but delusive administration of Louis XIV. it attained 
colossal power. It was absolutely necessary for the 
safety of Protestantism, and the progress of society, 
that this power should be checked. 

The revocation of the Edict of Nantes had 
aroused an inextinguishable hatred against France, 
which burned in the Huguenot blood of \\'illiam. 
There were some extraordinary circumstances which 



as a Reformer. 31 

favored this coalition against France ; and of these 
WiUiam most skilfully availed himself. 

Spain was jealous of France, and fearful of her 
increasing power ; and the Protestant William was 
able to enlist the Spain, which had so cruelly devas- 
tated the Netherlands, among his allies. Catholic 
Austria was also brought into the coalition. But 
what is more extraordinary than all, is the fact that 
the Pope himself became the ally, against France, of 
William Prince of Orange. William was able to 
make such use of the apprehensions of the Papacy, 
in regard to the Galilean liberties, as to make the 
Church of Rome, as represented in the Supreme 
Pontiff himself, the great bulwark, for the time, of 
Protestantism in Europe. No stronger evidence 
could be given of the most consummate statesman- 
ship. This great purpose of William's life he pur- 
sued amid incredible difficulties with the most 
unflinching boldness and persistency. 

There can hardly be a doubt but that, under God, 
the overthrow and destruction of Protestantism in 
Europe were averted by the transcendent genius 
with which William, through so many years, pre- 
sided over this strange, inexplicable coalition against 
France, 

As the coalition against France was the great work 
of William III., so far as continental politics were con- 
cerned, it may be well to refer to some of the steps 



32 William the Third 

which led to its dissolution and the final settle- 
ment between the allied powers and France. 

A very important advantage was gained by Louis 
XIV,, in being able at last to withdraw the Pope, 
whom William with transcendent skill had used as 
virtually' one of the parties in the Coalition. The 
difficulty between the Pope and Louis had arisen fi-om 
the assertion of what are known as the Gallican Lib- 
erties, in an assembly of ecclesiastics in 1682, Those 
of the number who were subsequently appointed 
Bishops by the King were refused confirmation by 
the Pope. The Church of France was, therefore, 
in an anomalous position, and the Supreme Pontiff 
was actually enlisted in the service of the enemies of 
the King. 

Louis XLV. was obliged to make very important 
concessions before he could make his peace with the 
Papacy. Each of the Bishops whose appointment 
was not confirmed by the Pope was required to write 
in the most humble terms to the Pope, and although 
not retracting the principles of the assembly of 1682, 
yet declaring that the things then decreed should be 
as though they were not decreed. The King also 
wrote to the Pope that he had given orders that the 
things contained in his edict of March 22d, 1682, and 
claiming certain immunities for the Church of France, 
should not be observed. 

Upon these concessions the necessary bulls were 



as a Reformer. t,t, 

issued by the Pope. Peace was established between 
the contending parties ; but a severe blow was dealt , 
to the cause of Bossuet, and the independence of the 
Galilean Church. 

The bringing of the Coalition to terms was not, 
however, so easy a matter. There was to be hard 
fighting first, and concessions of the most important 
character were to be extorted from the " great King." 
The first concession, perhaps the most humiliating to 
Louis, had already been made, in his recognition of 
the ustLrper William, as King of England, 

In 1696 we find William disposed to treat for peace, 
and in the spring of 1697 a congress was held, with 
this object in view, at the chateau of Neuburg-Hau- 
sen, belonging to William, near the village of Rys- 
wick. These negotiations led to the Peace of Rys- 
wick, by which the Great Alliance was broken. The 
price paid by Louis XIV. to William III. for this rup- 
ture was the full recognition of the Protestant suc- 
cession in England and the restitution of vast terri- 
tories. The negotiations which resulted in the rup- 
ture of the Alliance and the Peace of Ryswick seem 
to have been carried on principally between Bouffiers, 
on the part of Louis, and the Duke of Portland on 
the part of William. France had conquered in the 
wars, but, as has been well said, "conquered with- 
out increasing her power." William yielded nothing 
of any real importance to him. Louis beheld his 



34 William the Third 

territorial acquisitions vanish, and the boundaries of 
his kingdom recede to the limits of 1678. 

The eighteenth century had dawned when Wil- 
liam died, and all the great foundation principles 
peculiar to modern society had been established. If 
Lord Bacon was the chief representative of these 
principles upon their theoretic side, it is certain that 
they had no more prominent and effective represent- 
ative upon their practical side than William III. 

Surrounded with stupendous difficulties, apparently 
insuperable to the soldier and the statesman alike, he 
rescued Protestantism and free institutions in Eng- 
land, and made both Protestantism and freedom for- 
midable throughout the continent of Europe. He 
possessed the remarkable faculty, unequalled perhaps 
in any other man, of wresting victory from defeat. 
Scarcely ever successful on the battle-field, he made 
the triumphs of his enemies more barren and bitter 
than their defeat could possibly have been. He fre- 
quently and conspicuously failed to carry through 
political measures which he had undertaken, but none 
the less did he bear forward the great cause of civil 
and religious liberty, to which his life was devoted. 
The world to-day has entered upon the prolific fruits 
of his labors. 

Our own country, during the formative period in 
the history of its institutions, is immensely indebted, 
— and we should gratefully acknowledge it, — to the 



as a Reformer. 35 

influence of the Prince of Orange. It is a singular 
fact that some of the highest tributes that have been 
paid to WilHam are from the country of his enemies. 
Ernest Moret, in his Qimize Ans du r'egne de Lotus 
XIV., has eloquently said of him, " He had the first 
virtue of great men — will — will. His feeble body 
bore a soul of iron. He willed ! He had willed to 
govern Holland ; at twenty-two years of age he 
was Stadtholder. He had willed to be king of Eng- 
land ; he died with the crown of Elizabeth upon his 
head." William was at once Orator, Diplomatist, 
Statesman, Soldier. And it has been well said by Paul 
Grimblot, in his edition of the letters of William HI. 
and Louis XIV., " It ill becomes a foreigner, I am 
aware, to reproach any nation with a want of grati- 
tude. But William III. is not a man of one nation 
more than another ; he is the representative of a 
principle ! Frenchman though I be, I look upon 
William III. as one of the greatest characters of his- 
tory." 

Like most of those who have conferred great 
benefits upon humanity, the life of William was one 
of disappointment, toil, and suffering. Nothing but 
his unflinching purpose and the irresistible impulse 
of his will sustained him through bodily infirmity, 
the hatred of enemies, the coldness of friends, the 
ingratitude of those for whose deliverance all he had 
and was had been given. The latter years of his 



36 William the Third as a Reformer. 

life were saddened still more by the loss of his 
noble and devoted wife, from whose dying-bed he 
had been carried in convulsions in the agony of his 
grief. 

But he won the inheritance of freedom, and be- 
queathed it to the English-speaking peoples for an 
everlasting possession ! As this mighty figure of 
William disappears from history, we recall the strik- 
ing lines of the German poet Stolberg, which carry 
us back in imagination to the cradle of the great 
political Reformer: 

"Welcome, great centurj- of Liberty, 
Thou fairest daughter of slow-teeming Time. 
With pangs unwont she bore, 
And hailed her mighty child. 
Trembling, she took thee with maternal arms ; 
Glad shudders shook her frame ; she kissed thy front ; 

And from her quivering lips 

Prophetic accents broke. 

' Bold is thy rolling eye. 

And strong thy tender hand ; 
And soon beside thy cradle shall be heard 
The tunes of warfare, and the clash of arms ! 
And thou shalt hear with smiles 
As on thy mother's breast. 
I see thee quickly grow with giant step ; 
With streaming golden hair, with lightning eye, 
Thou shalt come forth, — and Thrones 
With T\-rants tread to dust ! ' " 



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